Plot

Together, the six Pokédex holders launch an attack at Pryce, only to have them blocked by shields of ice. The ice quickly reforms into several humanoid ice figures that immediately grab and subdue the Pokédex holders' Pokémon. Upon defeating the Pokémon, the soldiers immediately go for their Trainers and restrain them. Pryce notes that he's filled with strength and attributes it to holding the GS Ball in his hand. Sensing light from the Ilex Forest shrine, he succeeds in opening the shrine and catching Celebi using the GS Ball. With Celebi now under his command, he commands the Time Travel Pokémon to take him back in time to when he had lost something.

The wheels on Pryce's wheelchair rotate and reveal a clock and a thermometer. The clock begins moving backwards while the thermometer shows the temperature rapidly going down. As ice forms over the Pokédex holders, Pryce claims that everything will be frozen at absolute zero. When Crystal asks where Gold is, Pryce reveals that he managed to trap him in an ice mirror after being constantly pursued while in the Crack in Time. Silver has Entei free him and Crystal with its flames, but Pryce escapes by jumping into the Ilex Forest shrine.

Gold apologizes to everyone for being defeated. Silver attempts to rescue him by reaching into the shrine, only for his hand to get distorted by the time stream. Gold states that only those who have the Rainbow and Silver Wings will be able to move about the time stream freely. Yellow realizes that the feathers in her hat must be the feathers from Ho-Oh and Lugia that were also used to make the GS Ball. Gold notices as well, and demands that she give him her hat so that he can be freed. Yellow attempts to remove her hat, but is unable to without removing it completely and revealing her true gender to Red. Although reluctant, Yellow takes off her hat and tosses it to Crystal, who frees Gold from his icy prison. Although shocked to find out that Yellow is actually a girl, Gold thanks her for being courageous enough to take her hat off. With the Rainbow and Silver Wings in hand, Gold hops onto Raikou's back and jumps into the Crack in Time with Silver and Crystal following behind on Entei and Suicune's backs.

As they pass through the time stream, the trio witness various moments from their journey. They quickly come upon moments of Pryce's past to when he was a young man. In a snowy region, a young Pryce watches as his two Lapras fall to their deaths in an avalanche. Pryce notices a crackling sound in his pocket, which turns out to be a Pokémon Egg. The Egg hatches into a baby Lapras, which begins looking for its now-deceased parents in vain. With tears in his eyes, Pryce begs the Lapras to forgive him. Pryce approaches the trio, and introduces them to his Lapras, La Glace.

Pryce states that he intends on changing the past so that La Glace can be reunited with its parents. Crystal questions why Pryce would go to so much trouble for the sake of one Lapras. This angers Pryce, who states that although it might not be important to her, to him it means everything. Pryce lashes out at Gold and takes the Rainbow and Silver Wings, removing the protection they have from the Crack in Time. Pryce reveals that although he claimed that he considers Pokémon to be nothing but tools, he was actually lying. Pryce states that everyone else is just tools in his grand scheme of bringing back the Pokémon he loves. Pryce commands Celebi to bring him back to the day where he lost La Prus and La Pris.

Outside the shrine, the other Pokédex holders continue to struggle against Pryce's ice prison. Red attempts to talk to Yellow about her hair, but Green tells them to worry about it later. Blue quickly notes that despite their attempts to melt the ice, it only ends in the ice refreezing. However, the ice that was melted by Entei stayed the same. Yellow suggests spreading the flames over the ice, but Green asks how when they can't even move. Red reveals that he had Blasty refuel his cannons with the gas-filled water from Mt. Silver. Blasty shoots water at the flames, causing them to spread and melt all of the ice permanently. Now freed, Red leads the others into helping their allies by charging at the shrine.

Inside the shrine, Gold, Silver, and Crystal struggle to move forward. Seeing the moment from when they first met, Gold apologizes to Silver for thinking he was a thief. Silver asks why Gold continues to fight and wonders if it's because of him. Gold denies this claim and states that he's fighting for himself. Gold manages to grab the feathers and hands them to Silver and Crystal, who he thanks for all the battles they shared together. Gold leaps further into the time stream to face Pryce once more, leaving Silver and Crystal behind in the process. Gold tells Pryce to let Celebi go free. Pryce claims that Gold has no right to tell him what to do since he doesn't understand how he felt when he lost La Pris and La Prus. Gold states that he actually does, since he was given the title of Hatcher from Professor Oak and can emphasize with him.

Gold and Pryce continue battling it out, but Gold manages to pierce through his ice body with his pool cue. Gold commands Pichu to attack with a move he calls Super Rising Thunder. Gold notes that the technique comes from Pichu absorbing electricity from Raikou and is penetrating Pryce's defenses by having the pool cue act as a lightning rod. Although too far away to help, the other Pokédex holders assist Gold by firing their Pokémon's attacks straight at the defenseless Pryce. The attacks not only shatter Pryce's ice body, but also the GS Ball, releasing Celebi and exposing Pryce and Gold to the Crack in Time's effects. As Gold falls unconscious, La Glace immediately flies out of its Poké Ball and into a bright light. Pryce sees that it actually went back in time and reunited with its lost parents. Through Celebi's abilities, Pryce suddenly begins hearing a song and seeing visions of people from his past.

Elsewhere, Wilton expresses disbelief at the Day-Care Couple having known Pryce in the past. The Day-Care Couple explain that years ago, they were friends together with Pryce, Professor Oak, Agatha, and Kurt, sharing a variety of ambitions and love for Pokémon. After Pryce lost his Lapras at the Ice Field, he became bitter and distanced himself from people, eventually becoming the man he is today. The group of friends wrote the song Boy and his Lapras in an attempt to reach out to their friend, but failed to ease his pain. Back in the Crack in Time, Pryce is moved to tears at Celebi's attempt to heal the pain in his heart. Pryce tells Gold to cherish the time he has with his friends and purposely lets himself fall further into the Crack in Time.

Crystal, Silver, Entei, Raikou, and Pichu all emerge from the shrine unharmed, much to the relief of the Kanto Pokédex holders. Yellow quickly notices Pichu and decides to give it a nickname based on Pika and Chuchu's names. When she asks who hatched Pichu's Egg, Silver gravely informs her that it was Gold, who is now lost in the Crack in Time. A moment of silence passes before Blue apprehends Silver, arresting him for his earlierthefts. Crystal pleads with Blue on the basis that they had just lost a comrade, but Silver assures her that with everything resolved, he is willing to accept punishment for his crimes. Before they can leave, a voice calls out to Blue and tells him that Silver can't be arrested because the picture on the wanted poster doesn't look like Silver.

The voice is revealed to an alive and well Gold, who states that misunderstandings tend to happen. Crystal is shocked to see that Gold is still alive, but he tells her that she shouldn't just assume that he's dead so easily. Gold thanks Yellow for her help earlier, only to be shocked to find out that she's older than him as well. Wilton and the Day-Care Couple arrive with the rest of Gold's team. As Green notes that Sunbo's Sunny Day mimicked the effects of a Sun Stone, Gold takes the chance to pat her rear, earning a beating from an angry Silver.

Meanwhile, Karen and Will watch the commotion from above and note how even the weak become strong when banded together. When Karen wonders what to do without Pryce, they are approached by Bruno and Koga who suggest that since they are all former villains, they should work together. Karen and Will accept the offer as long as it means that it keeps them entertained.

At the Indigo Plateau, Misty decides to report to Erika via her Pokégear. Since Erika lent her Pokégear earlier to Red, Red ends up being the one who receives the call. Misty's feelings for Red couple with Yellow noticing that Red is talking to Misty creates an awkward tension in the air. Green, fully aware of the tension between them, smugly declares that the three should simply all live together, much to their embarrassment. Gold decides to ease the awkwardness by calling his mother and tells her that he is going to train with Red. Although Red is shocked to hear that Gold actually does want to be trained, he suggests that they go to Mt. Silver since it has powerful wild Pokémon.

With the crisis resolved, the damage done to the Pokémon League meant that it had to be cancelled and no winner was announced. Clair reported that she has lost her battle to Blaine, meaning that the Kanto Gym Leaders have won the exhibition match. All the commotion coupled with the new rule that Gym Badges allow one to skip the preliminary rounds of the League means that the Gym Leaders are busier than ever while they deal with challengers. Bill, having learned of Pryce's attempt to control time, begins to incorporate time in his research for improving his Transfer System.

One morning, Professor Oak scrambles to wake up after having overslept without Daisy to wake him. Crystal informs him that she has completely filled in the Pokédex from the encounter with the Legendary Pokémon, leaving Oak to contemplate asking her to help him catch more Pokémon that are constantly being discovered. Nonetheless, the Professor rushes to Goldenrod City to host his radio show with DJ Mary, where he is briefly interrupted by a child who wishes to request for a Pokédex.

Gold defeats Pryce with a move he named Super Rising Thunder created from Pichu absorbing Raikou's electricity. This is a reference to the TCG card Rocket's Raikou that has a move named Rising Thunder.